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Friday was a blast.
It was yet another incredible and humbling experience in this my unfolding political drama.
The Chairman of my party, Labour Party, in Ogun State had invited me to an assembly of a rival political party, UPN, in their stronghold in Abeokuta.
It was an unusual invitation – Labour to attend a UPN event. I was curious. So, I went with him and about 10 other Labour Party leaders.
I recall, of course, that I had interacted briefly with UPN leadership in Ijebu Ode some time ago. Since then nothing had happened.
Some months ago, in searching for a suitable political platform to drive my dream Ogun State, my first port of call was the UPN, the party founded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
For some reason, it had not been a dominant force in the state where its revered founder came from.
I had thought that resurrecting and rejigging the Awolowo doctrine and machine would be a natural attraction in Ogun State. Unfortunately, it has not been so even though there was a committed followership, but not in the numbers to upturn the APC or PDP machines.
Also, the party already had a flagbearer it was committed to, and integrity required that the leadership must be faithful to its pledge.
I respected that, and went away, but without shutting the door permanently to a possible future relationship in this non-ideological cross-carpeting in Nigerian politics.
Generally, in my school of belief, nothing happens by accident. Everything is a plot of a higher divine script.
That’s how another path was created that led me to the Labour Party, a party that shares substantial commonality in ideology and programs with the UPN.
To imagine that my first unofficial assignment as a Labour party man, exactly a week after joining the party, was to attend a meeting with another group of UPN leaders and members, can surely not be a coincidence as I ride with the tide of the elements.
We arrived the venue in a convoy of three cars.
The venue was in the middle of a community in one of the dilapidated traditional family compounds downtown old Abeokuta. It was packed with people seating under three or four large canopies.
I was told later that over 30 dozen plastic chairs were rented, given an indication of the number of people present.
Add to that number the standing brigade of young boys and girls, and a few area boys giving the place the usual atmosphere of rowdiness of a political rally.
Women, mostly housewives and market traders, were in the majority. There were party members from all the six local government areas. The people of the community that were not party members were not left out of the ‘party’.
From alighting from my car, I immediately realized, to my shock, that I was not going to be an ordinary witness to an unusual event.
I was specially met by UPN officials, surrounded by area boys, and shepherded through a mass of area boys to the high table in the middle of this cacophonous assembly.
I was being treated as the star of the event itself. That’s what it turned out to be.
I sat there at the head of the high table between leaders of both political parties, flabbergasted!
A long welcome speech, was followed by lavish encomiums, as one person after the other came to the front to shower me with praises and prayers, all of this interrupted by intermittent busts of cheers from the motley crowd, with women taking turns to come out, sing and dance in the customary tradition of the Yoruba.
The obviously enchanted crowd pushed and shoved to get to the front and catch a glimpse of a footballer they had heard everything about but never seen or met in person, cutting his teeth in politics.
I was mesmerized by it all.
Suddenly, I was called up to speak to the people.
I was lost in the magic of the moment.
I had obviously not prepared for this.
What was my message going to be?
I got up to a tumultuous applause.
Some women ushered me to the front with more singing and dancing to the delight of the enchanted crowd. I said a silent prayer in my heart humbly asking the universe to speak for me because I could never be fluent enough in the Yoruba language to speak the honey-coated lexicon of politicians and do justice to the important information I needed to share with the people.
I could see hunger in the faces of the people for reassuring words that will rekindle lost hope in the present political system littered with unfulfilled promises and half-truths resulting in grinding poverty amongst the people.
Even the environment around us bore ample testimony to the politically motivated decadence.
In the background in the distance, just behind us, was the famous Olumo Rock ‘hanging’ against the skyline like a worn rag. It could almost see its tears in the melancholic, forlorn, idle lonely and waning beauty of that unique gift of nature to Ogun State, with many more scattered all over the state.
Suddenly, the people see rays of hope.
So, they sing and dance in anticipation of the change they have long craved for.
Do you get the picture? A leadership aspirant in Labour Party celebrating with a largely UPN Party assembly.
A union is forming without any conversation, or discussion, or a memorandum, under the power of a common interest and HOPE.
I opened by mouth and the Universe took over and spoke for me.
I don’t recall what I said as the words came tumbling out of my mouth, all of it in Yoruba, from above!
The Universe works in mysterious ways. It uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.
It must have told them about the vision of an emerging great state that will shock the world with its grand success as the fastest developing environment on earth starting from 2019.
It must have told them about an essential process that will birth this future – install a new kind of leadership by the following means: the entire people must actively participate; the people must vote and protect their votes with everything and by every means; the people must be involved in the governance structure to create a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Finally, driving all of this shall be the intrinsic cultures, traditions and values of the Omoluabi.
The Universe’s final message must have been the absolute necessity for every eligible person in Ogun state to possess a Permanent Voters Card and to use it when the time comes.
The crowd cheered intermittently with every few words that stumbled out of my mouth.
Then I was done.
The mouth shut up.
I sat down drained, wondering what had just transpired.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw and heard two representatives of the UPN come out, pledge their support for me to become their governor and request for logistic support to enable them mobilise people in every nook of their zone.
Then the speeches were also over.
In rounding off, the MC dramatically asked everyone in the huge gathering, that had their PVC with them to bring them out and raise them up.
That was totally unexpected and from the blues.
People do not carry their PVC s around, even if they had them. Or do they these days?
I was expecting a few raised to be hands.
Suddenly, I was wide awake.
An ocean of hands had shot up everywhere, the reflection on the cards against the fading light of early evening was flickering like stars at night.
It was a most beautiful scene. That image is etched on my mind even as I write this marking an unbelievable scene in a play titled, the Odyssey of Revelations in Ogun State.
-Segun Odegbami